How Nicolas Cage became the internet’s ‘one true god’
Clementine is such a fan of the actor Nicolas Cage that on her online dating profile, she uses him as the benchmark to which potential suitors need…
Nicolas Cage’s Face/Off freak-out: how a deranged action film sent him over the edge
A piece of serendipity eventually came in 1995, when Werb and Colleary watched John Woo’s 1989 classic Hong Kong action thriller The Killer. Its themes of duality,…
Even in retirement, Bruce Willis will always be Hollywood’s rueful action antihero
In the nick of time, Quentin Tarantino saw a chance to rescue Willis from these doldrums, and presented the whole middle story of Pulp Fiction (1994) to…
Even in retirement, Bruce Willis will always be Hollywood’s rueful anti-action hero
In the nick of time, Quentin Tarantino saw a chance to rescue Willis from these doldrums, and presented the whole middle story of Pulp Fiction (1994) to…
Does Kim Jong-un think he’s in Terminator or Top Gun? You be the judge
Tom Cruise must be kicking himself. Just a matter of months before its long-delayed release, Top Gun: Maverick has been gazumped – by an even sleeker, more…
Does Kim Jong-un think he’s in Terminator or Top Gun? You be the judge
Tom Cruise must be kicking himself. Just a matter of months before its long-delayed release, Top Gun: Maverick has been gazumped – by an even sleeker, more…
A plea to Hollywood: make Batman fun again
From his self-consciously noir-ish voiceover (“Fear is a tool… two years of nights have turned me into a nocturnal animal”) to his character’s emo-styled black eyeliner and…
Clash of the captains: Kirk, Picard and the battle behind Star Trek Generations
Star Trek writers Ronald D Moore and Brannon Braga slouched into their boss’s office on the Paramount Studio lot in the summer of 1992 expecting to be…
The Fury Road feud: why Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy hated each other
This was a challenge for Hardy in particular. On set, the film-making was broken down to an intricate series of set-pieces. He felt Miller was getting lost…
Tom Cruise got Jack Reacher wrong – here’s how Amazon got him right
One furious fan alluded to as much: “A movie like this should be made for loyal fans of the book series. To those who don’t know who…
Razzies be damned – Bruce Willis is the most underrated actor of his generation
Taking the Golden Raspberry Awards, also known as the Razzies, too seriously is a foolish thing to do. Their purpose – to give awards to the worst…
Why James Bond had to die: Daniel Craig and Barbara Broccoli on the best-kept secret in film history
“If we hadn’t found the right story in which to do it, we would have had him walk off into the sunset,” Craig continues. “But as the…
How Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan became America’s king of ‘Dad TV’
He reunited with Renner for last year’s Mayor of Kingstown, a mini-series set in the same universe as Yellowstone. And then there is 1883, which grabbed headline…
The mystery of Agent 355, America’s first female spy
The legend of “Agent 355” originates in a single passing reference made in a letter written by Abraham Woodhull. Woodhull was one of the leading members of…
Black Hawk Down under fire: how Ridley Scott won the Battle of Mogadishu
Other true details include two Delta Force snipers, Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart and Master Sergeant Gary Gordon (played by Johnny Strong and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), who were…
Christmas cranked up to 11: why Die Hard 2 (not 1) is the greatest festive film
It’s as much a Christmas tradition as tiresome clichés about sprouts and family arguments: “Is Die Hard a Christmas film or not?” But this annual debate overlooks the…
Rasputin: the truth behind the legend of the ‘mad monk’
Robert K Massie, in his groundbreaking biography Nicholas and Alexandra, suggested that Rasputin was simply a calming presence: “Weaving his tales, filling a darkened room with his…
Speed Racer: the ‘dangerous’ film that became a Technicolour nightmare
Nobody has taken Speed Racer and its failure more to heart than the Wachowskis themselves. This may explain why, this week, Lana Wachowski returns to the duo’s…
The King’s Man, review: a swashbuckling Ralph Fiennes ends up on the wrong side of history
The most successful Kingsman-like touch here is the Blofeld-like villain – who is, rather hilariously, a bitter Scottish nationalist, orchestrating the First World War and the 1917…
What Nick Fletcher MP doesn’t get about ‘male role models’ – or Doctor Who
But just because a TV series is guilty of crimes against fashion and good storytelling does not mean it can be blamed for a wider cultural malaise….
‘Why was this film ever made?’: the savage history of ‘Bloody Sam’ Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch
For all the dynamite and bloodshed, some of the film’s most powerful moments are its quiet, reflective exchanges. When Mapache abducts one of them – a native…